Two things about high end audio irk me the most: (i) new products that
aren't worth a hoot; (ii) new gear that astounds me with delicacy and
mega-wallop. All the tried and true audio stuff out there, with legions
of fans and affiliates, is like cosmic background radiation. I know it's
real but, in my world, it's utterly invisible. I could list some of
that space dust. Why make new enemies?

Recently I reported my profound respect for Acoustic Zen's flagship
Crescendo speakers. They will not soon leave their central position in
my listening universe. So, right there, you find new gear that irks me
flat out. Why? Well, for one, it means that I've got to make a big
adjustment to my listening post. I can't just flop along happily with
the delusion that audio things are all locked in as I previously hoped
for.

Also, such adjustments have time-intensive, emotional and aesthetic
consequences. And I haven't even mentioned the bread, see? All this as a
direct result of some g'dam'd piece of new audio gear that shows up with
sparkling promise wholly fulfilled. Disgusting, really, since the 21st
century has an absolute evil in its already established design on
harassing anyone even marginally awake. Have you noticed how often you
load new software? Buy a new computer? Check out some dorky "you can't
live without" new thing-a-ma-jobbie? Who needs this shit? Why do we
buckle under the doubtless ever new assault of techno-bloat poised to
inundate us all faster and more thoroughly?

I,
for one, dream of Robinson Crusoe on his serene island, stranded away
from the modest hustle of 18th century London. Of course, he
was going along pretty smooth with rustic splendor until Friday, that
joyless sidekick and immoveable pain in the ass, converted solitude to
society and wholly screwed up a calm morning snooze for my lonesome
hero. If only poor Crusoe had a great solar battery-operated sound
system with no advertisements or audio review rags to tempt his musical
madness toward the mayhem of constant revision! Any finely cultured
gent might daydream about great sound forever—as long as his discs,
vinyl and tapes are well protected from the elements. But, wait! Our
gullible music lover may be better off with, say, Olive's new two
terabyte 4HD Hifi Music Server that generates 24/196 oversampling (a
paltry $2000), with 6000 CDs loadable at a touch.

Zeeba: Precise Sonic Details

Okay, so nostalgia dumped me on Crusoe's island only to strand me back
in the 21st century with anachronistic hopes. See what I
meant a moment ago? I can't win. Carloads of new audiophile glory await
one's immodest interest, while I spin my wheels fogging on about
existential simplicity. Ain't no such thing no more, no how, and we
gotta get on with it. I must soon get over the "over the hill" stage of
quirky leisure pipe-dreams. I get it.

Enter Paramount Technology's Zeeba speaker and amp stands. I love
these blasted things. Why, you ask. Let me count the reasons. First,
they are obvious, not covert or driven by secret snake oil or some
unmentionable Devil's Tonic. They are analog ! I love analog. They are
mechanical couplings that enhance good amplifiers and speakers while
taking superior amps and transducers to heights of three-dimensional
sonic reproduction and depths of soul massaging audio seduction.

Second, third, and fourth reasons rest with the details. In the weeks
since these dumb-founding and genuinely ear-opening devices have been in
my system, that old romantic tug at the heart has been revived again. Albums that I have recorded, mastered, and hugged first to last (from
birth on a club stage to pressing at the disc makers) have taken on new
life.

Try this, as an example. Within hours of the Zeeba isolation stands
going into my sound universe, I plopped in my Buster Williams Trio
album, featuring the legendary Kenny Barron on piano and "Return To
Forever" drummer, Lenny White. The sound stage in the Mountain View
[California] Performing Arts Hall, where the session was recorded, took
on greater presence and outline. Buster Williams' powerful bass depth
gained added force and precision. Kenny Barron's delicate touch on his
Steinway grand piano emerged with extraordinary vividness. The entire
trio "felt" closer, more real and more cohesive as a unit—just as I
heard them on several sets of high-resolution headphones the evening we
recorded the album "live to two-track."

Try this, also, as evidence of the Zeeba's essentially magical ability
to add musical detail and sonic seduction to already wonderful material
and a damn good sound system. I played my most recent recording, still
in the early stages of editing and mastering—Larry Vuckovich's "Blue
Balkan Ensemble" (live @ Yoshi's in San Francisco)—and was floored by
the precise recreation of each element of a multi-track live capture
that is very fresh in my awareness. I've been able to hear further into
the soundstage at Yoshi's than I previously could. Each of the six
instruments at work before a sold out house are thoroughly delineated
with multi-layered vivacity and immediate clarity. The added detail is,
believe me, breathtakingly audible!

The bottom line that I want to share is this. I cannot imagine going
forward with my work as a recording and mastering person without the
literally invaluable, work-altering enhancements of these Zeeba
isolation stands. That is the highest possible praise I can give any
audio product, whether it resides on the audio capture side of my work
or on the audio reproduction side. Zeeba stands are now, for me,
indispensible.

Concluding (For Awhile)

When Paramount Technology's Chief Architect, Abbas Nourollahi, banged on my gate, upon entry he assured me that his
heavy plain boxes held no nonsensical widgets. Our shared laughter was
a prologue to magnificent sonic enhancement of a sort I've seldom
experienced so quickly, so thoroughly from any audio-related product. Abbas has a beguiling sweetness that makes him a pleasure to meet and
work with. Pleasantries out of the way, with no delay Abbas went to work
in front of BluePort's lyrical grotto, constructing a most elegant
jigsaw puzzle piece by piece... such that even an engineering dope
such as yours truly might follow his directions. These fine-tuned
creatures not only look great, but are simple to work with. Simple and
direct. Imagine !

The irksome nature of this audio sport surely blanches every audiophile
at some point. Honestly, guys. Who needs yet another obsession? Most
of us in the good ol' U. S. of A. are so spoiled by the largesse
of consumer pulchritude that we virtually (or actually) float on the
scum of too many choices—what to eat; where to live; who to root for
(only two genuine options here: Red Sox or Yankees)... and so on. The irksomeness I point to has everything to do with the vast
distraction of it all. And, thus, sonic stage-shaping, swapping gear in
and out constantly, is just about as completely distracting as a person
can deal with when you add ever new distractions to distracted
stupefaction.

But I relent. I succumb to the torment of my own obsession. Music
forever… truthful audio ever onward ! I confess the truth of my audio
mal de mer and yet (malgre moi) the Malo Modo under severe
consideration here plunges ahead to report more news of "the new"—more
jaw-dropped moments of semi-terrified listening astonishment.

Here's how simple it was and is: a point by point, moment by moment, set
up conducted before my leering gaze:

one Zeeba isolation device installed beneath the right speaker;

signal enhancement + out of balance delight exploding on the right;

the second Zeeba isolation platform nestled under the left speaker;

a
slight sense of dizziness accompanied by whoops of flat out amazement
and joy (bang… instantly);

refusal on the part of the BluePort Curmudgeon to go any further,
ratified by Chief Paramount Tech Sonic Engineer;

twenty two minutes after charming his way past a six year old
European-trained German Police & Guard dog (awaiting command or
retaliation at gate, as needed), Abbas nods, waves hand and gives
approval to switch on DNA-125;

now, two weeks after the "transformation" of my professional soundstage,
I (mali exempli) forgo all irritations;

with this first report on The Improbability here witnessed, I conclude
extempore with sincere belief in the virtue of my favorite
uncle's motto:

Malo Mori Quam Foedari

"Death before dishonor." No one I'm aware of will likely seek either,
nor defame my witness to what occurred as here reported. Final
confession. If Paramount Tech's Zeeba Isolation Stands had shown up for
me to review earlier in the year now ending, I would have awarded them a
"Product of the Year" for 2009. That's how highly I regard their no
nonsense enhancement of my sonic world. They are among the best
products I have ever spent sustained time listening to, through, and
with. And they are, in our bloated audiophile economy, not merely
inexpensive, they are affordable (contact Paramount for pricing).

New Year's Eve approaches and I'll conclude like this. A post-Xmas
present awaits anyone, with good sonic gear, ready to grace that musical
kingdom: invest a small amount to gain truly large aesthetic returns. If
your audio system resides at the top of the heap, make it sing with more
exotic sonic precision. Here's my year end wager. I suspect you're no
more prepared
for Zeeba's musical brilliance than I was. Jim Merod